A handoff note can be one index card, a shared text, or a page on the counter. The format matters less than the timestamp. A note without a time leaves the next person guessing.
The six lines to write
- Last meal: time, food, and amount actually eaten.
- Water: anything noticeably different, without trying to diagnose it.
- Bathroom: last dog potty trip or cat litter-box observation, plus anything unusual.
- Medication: exact name, dose, time given, and what is due next. Copy the label or veterinarian's directions.
- Change worth watching: one concrete observation, including when it happened.
- Next task: the next feeding, walk, medication, appointment, or call, with a time and person's name.
Write observations in plain language
Use details another person can recognize: "left half of breakfast," "limped on the right rear leg after the stairs," or "hid under the bed during the thunder." Avoid labels such as "anxious," "allergic," or "infected" unless a qualified professional made that assessment.
Medication deserves its own line
Do not rely on memory or a general message such as "medicine done." Record the medication name, dose, time, and initials of the person who gave it. Keep the original label and veterinarian instructions available. If the written direction and your memory do not match, stop and call the prescribing clinic.
Keep private details out of casual notes
A sitter may need your phone number, veterinarian, emergency clinic, alarm instructions, or building access details. Share only what that person needs and remove access codes when the handoff ends. Do not put payment-card information in a pet-care note.
When a handoff becomes a phone call
Call the next caregiver directly when timing is urgent, medication may have been duplicated or missed, the pet's condition changed, the animal escaped, or the written note could be misunderstood. Contact a veterinarian or emergency animal hospital for medical concerns. A handoff note supports that call; it does not replace it.
Copy this version
Time: ____ Caregiver: ____
Last meal: ____
Water: ____
Bathroom/litter: ____
Medication: ____
Change worth watching: ____
Next task, time, and person: ____
Sources and further reading
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